He Didn’t Know He Had It In Him

Last January 1st, one man’s New Year’s resolution was to become a non-conformist. For instance, he resolved never again to take part in the over-commercialization of Christmas. He would become a shopping mall dropout. “To think,” he said angrily, “that I paid fifteen dollars for a Christmas tree, and it was so small that on Christmas Day, my wife wore it as a corsage!”

In the Fifth Chapter of Acts, Luke tells us what happened to Peter and the Apostles-non-conformists all-when they appeared before the Sanhedrin to answer various charges, including that of jailbreaking. (The Sanhedrin-or Senate-was the highest governing body of the Jewish people. It had authority to rule on religious questions, and in some instances it was allowed by the Roman Authority to rule in civil matters.) In the case at hand, the Sanhedrin’s main concern was to stop the Apostles from preaching the Gospel of the Risen Christ. Jesus’ disciples were organizing. Who knows where all this non-conformist talk of a…